Nassau Avenue

Happy Zoe Vegan Bakery will have a grand opening on Saturday, Dec. 22, at their new location at 102 B Nassau Ave. from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.

The bakery previously operated at 28 Herbert St. for one year on the other side of the Brooklyn Queens Expressway and received positive feedback, but when the L train shutdown was announced, owners and sisters Agata and Paulina began seeking a new location. “We’ve been hearing all of the stories about the subway and it shutting down next year,” Agata said.

“We grew up strictly vegetarian in Warsaw, Poland. Our parents are very, very compassionate about animals, so we grew up loving animals and that’s how it started in our home,” she said.

Agata and Paulina’s mother and Agata’s 12-years-old daughter also help out with baking, “It’s a three and a half women operation…all of us are vegan, for the past 15 to 20 years,” Agata said.

Greenpoint has a long Polish history and many Polish-owned businesses have closed in the area recently, but the local community wasn’t the deciding factor on their new location as much as a fair rental price. “Growing up our parents were in the states, and when we moved here, they moved back,” Agata said.

Vegan chocolate cake from Happy Zoe Vegan Bakery

Birthday cakes, cheesecakes, cannolis and crepes are the bakery’s best sellers, but are not the types of food that come to mind when omnivores think of veganism, leaving some customers skeptical at first. “People always ask if the food is really 100 percent vegan,” Agata said. Continue reading →

There’s a new chai in town here in Greenpoint and it comes from the owner of local favorite Crema coffee shop.Alkemy Brewlab opened its doors in October 2017 at 290 Nassau Ave, at the corner of Hausman Street. It may seem a little off the beaten path but it’s only four blocks from McGolrick Park and well worth a visit.

The Nassau location is a compact but fully functioning coffee shop complete with requisite treats from fellow Greenpointers at Ovenly (31 Greenpoint Ave). Alkemy focuses on doing two products really well: cold brew and chai. Most notable is the innovative and highly functional cold brew kit which allows you to create your own high-quality brew at home or on the go. This is a game changer for campers and other outdoorsy types but also for all of you traveling coffee snobs out there.

Alkemy’s innovative cold brew kit

If you are a chai drinker, chances are you’ve already had Alkemy’s blend as it’s served at dozens of locations across the city. For a list of stockists, check their website where you can also purchase the chai concentrate and cold brew kit directly.

Last week Greenpointers caught up with owner Jin to find out about their process thus far, plans for the future and what it’s been like opening up a second shop in Greenpoint.Continue reading →

A couple of weekends ago, Diamond Lil quietly opened its doors at 179 Nassau Avenue. The bar takes its name from a risqué Broadway play by former Greenpoint resident, playwright, Hollywood star and sex symbol, Mae West. This is just one of the ways the space pays homage to strong women. The bar is co-owned by John Wright and Tim Murray, who is the same owner of Broken Land (105 Franklin Ave.) which hosted several fundraisers for Planned Parenthood leading up to the Women’s March earlier this year. There will likely be fundraisers in the future focusing on local organizations. Continue reading →

Sauvage isn’t the only new restaurant to pop up at the great Bedford-Nassau-Lorimer-Berry-McCarren exchange. Amami (57 Nassau Ave) opened its doors in late July bringing us sushi, sashimi, and most important now as cold and flu season beckons, bowls of steaming hot ramen. But one look at the space—which formerly housed Mexican restaurant Sindicato de Cocineros—and you can tell this isn’t your regular sushi joint. Yes, there are the “regular” sushi dishes we’ve come to know and love, but underneath the beautiful floating terrariums, are dishes made from seafood fresh enough to be on higher-caliber (read: $200/person) omakase menus, alongside little touches like house-fermented soy sauce and freshly grated ginger. And then there’s the real kicker: sushi brunch. Continue reading →

Verb Cafe (107 Nassau Ave) reopened in Greenpoint last month, a year and a half after the beloved Williamsburg location in the Girdle Factory closed in the summer of 2014 — replaced by, of all things, an artisanal soap shop.

Owner Cisco Rodriguez is committed to keeping the vibe of the old Verb while bringing in new ideas, inspired by both his personal vision and the feedback he gets from regulars in the new neighborhood.

When I walked into Verb Cafe to meet Cisco Rodriguez, the first thing he did was offer me a bowl of quinoa. He’s experimenting with bringing the ingredient to the menu, complete with accompaniments like avocado, grilled onion, hummus, and tomato. The second, third, and fourth things he did were greet each customer who walked in either by name or by noting a previous experience at the café.

Did you lose your wedding band on Nassau Avenue this past weekend? A Greenpointers reader found it and posted this ad on craigslist. We hope that it goes back to its rightful owner in time for Valentine’s Day!

The yellow Wasco car on a McGuiness rooftop has long been a Greenpoint landmark. But during the last two years the space below, previously used as an auto supply and motor works, has undergone an incredible transformation. Just before Christmas it was unveiled as Raizes Churrascaria (139 Nassau Ave), a Portuguese grill run by Lucia Corba.

The newest cafe to open up just east of the Nassau G-train is Cafe Pistachio (114 Nassau Ave). Owned and operated by a trio of food lovers trained in catering and culinary arts, this cafe is warm and its staff is inviting. Pistachio’s menu presents Turkish standards including açma (served best with a side of warm feta cheese), kumpirs and house-made yogurt. Though the savory food alone is worth a stop in, Cafe Pistachio also boasts a large assortment of house-made baked goods including sizable Madeleine cookies, chocolate truffles and a sinful Pistachio Dome. This seemingly modest dark chocolate half-sphere holds a rich pistachio mousse and is served on a gold foiled platter. Though Pistachio’s interior is less candlelight dining and more hey, let’s get a coffee, any Greenpoint gal or guy who brings a Dome—or at least suggests one—on a first date is sure to score points. And so does Pistachio for their charm and tasty treats.

I was 17 in the snow. It was the winter of 2004, new to college, and new to love. Who knew that I would get stuck in a Greenpoint apartment that winter rekindling a high school love? Beginning with a lost cellphone at the Royal Oak, to his bedroom in his loft apartment on Sutton, to Nassau Avenue, a little 1950’s diner we would call B’s on the corner of N Henry, and the swings in McGolrick park.

So to the Greenpointers who have fallin’ in love if once, if ever, if by chance, let’s scribe our loves into a poem.

And remember: we don’t just fall in love with people. Many of us fell in love, are still in love or fell out of love with Greenpoint.

Due February 10th @ 5pm, send us one of your poems, and let’s make this Valentine’s Day a brim to the hat to the nod toward love.

The winner, whose poem will be published on Greenpointers.com on the February 14th, will be a featured reader at Poetry Teachers NYC’s Monthly reading at Milk and Roses in February.

One last thing. Sometimes the best thing about falling in love is the story. Single or together this year, remember the place that landmarked your love.

Scoutmob is hosting my new Subway Wanderings series, a micro-travel guide of sorts, wherein I get on random MTA lines, get off random stops, and create a spontaneous visual itinerary of whatever happens to cross my path. I have to admit, I broke my own rules this week since the G to Nassau Avenue wasn’t exactly a serendipitous trip. But the G needs a ‘lil more lovin’ from the G-phobes and haters.

Good things can happen along the G! (Especially when you get off Greenpoint).